Chapter 696: SFDI - 696
Drake was completely unconcerned about Hody Jones and Vander Decken allying against Shirahoshi at this time.
This was because not all of his companions had come to Fish-Man District; several girls were still at Ryugu Castle.
It wasn’t just Drake; in fact, Fairy Tail as a whole didn’t hold much regard for Vander Decken, a guy who only lurked in corners causing trouble.
So, apart from the restless ones like Natsu, others like Lucy and Wendy, who weren’t interested in fighting, or Stella, who looked down on their opponents, had stayed at Ryugu Castle.
Even if Hody Jones and Vander Decken joined forces, they wouldn’t fare well against those girls.
And the situation was indeed as Drake had predicted: Hody Jones and Vander Decken... were in for a world of trouble!
In fact, Hody Jones’s transformation was indeed related to Drake.
Two years prior, Drake had infiltrated Impel Down before the Summit War. Although he hadn’t rescued Ace in advance, he had rescued Jinbe, who had been imprisoned for pleading on Ace’s behalf.
After that, Drake and Jinbe became friends.
Drake casually told Jinbe, "Prejudice often stems from a lack of understanding," which made Jinbe reflect on the relationship between Fish-Men and humans.
Therefore, he thought that perhaps eliminating the gap between Fish-Men and humans could also begin with deepening mutual understanding.
He could do nothing about the humans, but he could at least help Fish-Men understand humans better. Thus, Jinbe even broadcasted the scenes of the Summit War live on Fish-Man Island.
All one could say was that Jinbe was truly unsuited for public relations work; the situation didn’t develop as Jinbe had hoped.
The fear and prejudice other Fish-Men held towards humans didn’t diminish much. Instead, it allowed individuals like Hody Jones to gain a better understanding of the humans they wanted to defeat.
Hody Jones was indeed an ambitious extremist, but he wasn’t foolish.
Although he had previously believed Arlong’s claim that Fish-Men were a superior race, after truly understanding the power possessed by humans, he shed his arrogance.
Although he initially refused to believe it, thinking that Fish-Men could trample humans if they wished, he eventually accepted reality and realized his previous plans were completely incapable of achieving his ambition.
The potent drug Hody Jones stole from Ryugu Castle’s treasure vault could indeed multiply his strength, but when facing the monsters among humans, even consuming more of the drug offered no hope of victory.
However, Hody Jones would not abandon his ambition, so he set his sights on Shirahoshi.
Although he didn’t know what Shirahoshi’s terrifying power was, he knew that if he could control that power, he might have a chance to realize his ambition.
And he had already devised a plan: to hold Neptune and the three princes hostage, using them as remote controls to manipulate Shirahoshi.
Then, with a large group of Sea Kings, he would directly declare the rise of the Fish-Men and make himself the king of the new era!
A fine dream, but who could have imagined he’d be woken up so abruptly.
When Hody Jones and his group arrived at Ryugu Castle, the news they received was that a banquet was being held within the castle to welcome human guests.
But by then, Neptune was already in the Sea Forest, having entrusted Drake with a mission, and Natsu and the others had already departed for Fish-Man District.
Therefore, Hody Jones’s invasion of Ryugu Castle proceeded smoothly along the way.
Just like in the original story, they destroyed the bubble enclosing Ryugu Castle, flooding it with seawater.
This was intended to deal with the human guests mentioned in the intelligence. In their eyes, this move was enough to eliminate humans who couldn’t survive underwater.
Logically, after Fairy Tail’s initial clash with the New Fish-Man Pirates upon arriving at Fish-Man Island, these people should have known such a tactic would be useless.
The reason wasn’t that Hody Jones was unaware of Fairy Tail’s identity. Hody Jones hadn’t relaxed his vigilance on the outside world for the past two years and was naturally aware of Fairy Tail, who frequently caused major incidents.
However, the concept of a "superior race" couldn’t be changed overnight. Hody Jones still believed that only Fish-Men could survive in the sea.
Furthermore, perhaps for the sake of "face," the New Fish-Man Pirates executives who were beaten by Drake hadn’t shared the details of the fight with Hody Jones.
So Hody Jones was still unaware that Drake’s group possessed the ability to operate underwater.
The most crucial point was Jinbe. After the Summit War, Jinbe highly praised Drake and Stella’s strength, often praising their abilities.
But this provoked a rebellious sentiment among Hody Jones’s faction.
Besides their hatred for humans, the New Fish-Man Pirates detested two people the most, one of whom was Neptune.
As the king of Ryugu Kingdom, he advocated for peaceful coexistence with humans. To these individuals, Neptune was a foolish and cowardly king.
The other person was Jinbe, who inherited the legacy of the Sun Pirates.
As Tiger’s successor, Jinbe maintained close ties with the humans who had caused Tiger’s death, making him a disgrace to the Fish-Men.
Therefore, even though Arlong was released from prison thanks to Jinbe becoming a Shichibukai, he was unwilling to rejoin the Sun Pirates.
The New Fish-Man Pirates, led by Hody Jones, inherited Arlong’s animosity towards Jinbe, so they completely belittled those Jinbe praised.
Over time, they even deceived themselves, truly believing that the strong individuals Jinbe spoke of were merely unworthy of their reputation.
Then, Hody Jones, heading towards the Hard-Shell Tower, encountered Fairy Tail’s young ladies.
After the seawater flooded in, the group knew they were under attack. They had been entrusted by Left Minister to specifically rush to the Hard-Shell Tower to protect Shirahoshi. Just as they had calmed Shirahoshi, who was crying uncontrollably after being frightened, they encountered Hody Jones and his group.
Lucy took out the Golden Key of Aquarius and summoned the star spirit, Aquarius.
Among the twelve Zodiac star spirits, although Leo the Lion was the leader, Aquarius the Water Bearer possessed the strongest offensive power.
Aquarius’s image was precisely that of a Merfolk holding a water bottle, and in areas with water, Aquarius could unleash astonishing power.
In a way, Lucy, who was always caught in Aquarius’s attacks, was remarkably resilient.
"Water Lock!"
Aquarius, with a cold expression, directly used her strongest attack magic.
From the water bottle wielded by Aquarius, a torrent of raging water was unleashed, sweeping all the Fish-Men away.
Hody Jones, tumbling like a rag doll in a washing machine, gritted his teeth and stuffed something into his mouth.
Bloodshot eyes flared, and Hody Jones’s body began to swell. This was the source of Hody Jones’s confidence in achieving his ambition—Ryugu Castle’s secret treasure, the potent drug E.S.
Consuming one pill doubled his strength, and he had just swallowed over a dozen.
This allowed him to stabilize his body in the raging currents, though he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Shirahoshi’s eyes sparkled as she watched the majestic Aquarius.
"This Fish-Man sister is so cool!"
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